' -Laura Warrell, The New York Times Book Review The novel is most fun when her wit bolsters the narrative’s sociopolitical underpinnings, as when she describes a 'house full of mysterious, unexplainable rich-people' paraphernalia, 'like gazebos.' Funny because they’re true, such jabs give the book its verve but also its depth. Cauley, a former writer for The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, displays an enviably versatile sense of humor. One might expect a novel about gun-toting, conspiracy-minded loners to lampoon its key players, but the book succeeds because Cauley appears as curious and empathetic toward the survivalists as she is toward her protagonist. Holding a job, finding an affordable place to live, starting a family-this is what 21st-century survivalism is really about.' -Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal and as turns her splendidly dry humor on the antics of the apocalypse-obsessed she reserves her indignation for the bloodsucking business practices that keep employees in a state of paranoid competition. 'This is a banger of a book!' -Samantha Irby

Named a Most Anticipated Book by The Washington Post, Bustle, Vulture, Salon, Oprah Daily, The Millions, and more

Named a Best Book by Today, People, Stylecaster Moving into his Brooklyn brownstone to live along with his Hurricane Sandy-traumatized, illegal-gun-stockpiling, optimized-soy-protein-eating, bunker-building roommates, Aretha finds that her dreams of making partner are slipping away, replaced by an underground world, one of selling guns and training for a doomsday that’s maybe just around the corner.įor readers of Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, and Zakiya Harris’s The Other Black Girl, The Survivalists is a darkly humorous novel from a smart and relevant new literary voice that's packed with tension, curiosity and wit, and unafraid to ask the questions most relevant to a new generation of Americans: Does it make sense to climb the corporate ladder? What exactly are the politics of gun ownership? And in a world where it’s nearly impossible for young people to earn enough money to afford stable housing, what does it take in order to survive? In the wake of her parents’ death, Aretha, a habitually single Black lawyer, has had only one obsession in life-success-until she falls for Aaron, a coffee entrepreneur.

“A great and engrossing read, Kashana humanizes a way of life that is often made fun of and makes the reader understand why someone would go to such great lengths to prepare for the future, so much so she almost sold me on those Life Preserver soy bars!” -Trevor NoahĪ single Black lawyer puts her career and personal moral code at risk when she moves in with her coffee entrepreneur boyfriend and his doomsday-prepping roommates in a novel that's packed with tension, curiosity, humor, and wit from a writer with serious comedy credentials

The survivalists novel